Instant messaging is ever increasing in popularity as users are able to communicate in real-time by way of instant messages using a variety of devices, such as computers, wireless phones, media devices, and the like. Instant messaging enables two or more users to exchange messages via a communication network during an instant messaging session. When two users are on-line at the same time, instant messages can be exchanged in real-time between the two users via respective messaging-enabled devices. Although the instant messages are a text conversation between the two users, the immediacy of message exchanges with instant messaging mimics how the users would participate in a typical spoken conversation.
The real-time instant message communications between two (or more) messaging-enabled devices can be implemented via a direct peer-to-peer communication link between the two messaging-enabled devices. In an alternative system, instant message communications may be routed from a client device to a server and then to a recipient client device, in which case the client-to-server and server-to-client communications can be secured. However, the peer-to-peer instant messaging conversations are not secure in transmission, nor is there validation that a user who participates in an instant messaging session is actually who they represent themselves to be. Instant messaging participants are then susceptible to being deceived and/or having data compromised.